A Christmas to Remember
by Nisa-chan666
Summary: With his first Christmas living with Kai looming, Tyson is shocked to find that Kai has never celebrated Christmas in his life. A situation he is determined to remedy. KaiXTyson. Some ReiXMax.
1. I wish it could be Christmas everyday

**Authoress' notes:** Hey guys, miss me?

**Disclaimer:** Much as I'd like to, I don't own any of the characters from Beyblade, nor do I own the actual series itself. What you see here is just the fruits of an over-fertile imagination.

**Warnings:** boyXboy love (no like, no read, simple as that), lots of fluffiness....

**Pairing:** KaiXTyson, with some ReiXMax on the side.

**Summary:** With his first Christmas living with Kai looming, Tyson is shocked to find that Kai has never celebrated Christmas in his life. A situation he is determined to remedy.

**Dedication:** To anyone who still reads my stuff, I am truly unworthy.

Chapter 1: I wish it could be Christmas everyday.

_December 1__st__._

Kai stumbled through the apartment door, backpack cutting matching stripes into his shoulders. It was times like this when he cursed the sheer volume of work he had to do to get his forensics degree. Both his biology and chemistry textbooks weighed as much as a breeze-block on their own, but most days, he had to contend with their combined effort to put his back out.

"Tyson, I'm home," he called, trudging into the kitchen to make himself a, in his opinion well-deserved, cup of tea.

"Welcome home, Kai," Tyson replied, pecking him on the cheek, grinning widely.

Kai raised an eyebrow questioningly. He knew that look; it usually meant that there was some big event that he was supposed to remember.

"What's with the grin? You're weirding me out," Kai muttered, raising the boiled kettle from its stand.

"Isn't it obvious? It's the first day of Advent," Tyson laughed.

"Advent?"

"Yeah, it's the count-down to Christmas," Tyson said, grin fading slightly.

"Oh right, Christmas. What of it?" Kai asked casually, cup of tea hovering in front of his mouth.

"Well...it's Christmas! What's isn't there to look forward to?" Tyson said, grin fading entirely to be replaced with a frown.

"I've never celebrated it," Kai shrugged. "I guess I forgot it even happens."

"But...how can you have never celebrated it?!"

"I just haven't," Kai muttered, backing away slightly.

Tyson stood stock still, staring at Kai with a shocked look on his face. Kai watched warily as the expression shifted from one of shock to one of grim determination.

"I've decided. I'm going to celebrate Christmas with you this year. Grandpa will understand, I'm sure," Tyson stated after a pause.

"You have, have you? May I ask why?" Kai asked wryly.

"Because otherwise you'll end up spending it on your own, and that would suck. So I won't let it happen," Tyson explained, smile reappearing on his face.

"What if I don't feel like making an exception this year?"

"Just try it this once, for me?" the younger boy pleaded, eyes widening.

"_Uh-oh,"_ Kai thought. _"Here comes the face."_

The bottom lip started to tremble, midnight blue eyes became wide and shiny with easily-summoned tears. Kai felt himself weaken, much as he knew Tyson wasn't about to bawl his eyes out.

"Fine," he sighed, leaning back against the counter.

"Thank you," Tyson yelled, the face morphing back into a radiant smile.

Kai grunted neutrally, eyes closed as he felt his face settle into an annoyed frown. They opened again as he felt his boyfriend's small arms wrap around his waist, the lithe torso they were connected to coming to rest on his chest and diaphragm.

"Thanks Kai," Tyson murmured, head tucked into the hollow of Kai's neck. "It'll be fun, I promise."

"I know," Kai replied, smiling gently, free hand resting on his younger lover's head.


	2. Step into Christmas

Chapter 2: Step into Christmas.

_December 2nd._

Tuesday morning. It signalled Kai's busiest day of the week. While he didn't actually have much in the way of lessons, he made up for it by taking on several part-time jobs in his spare time during the day. It wasn't as though he needed the money, he just knew that if he was left with nothing to do, he'd end up sleeping 20 hours a day from sheer boredom. Tuesdays meant two separate shifts in stock rooms and two hours of forensic chemistry, not an easy subject on the best of days. He was halfway out the door when a small tanned hand grabbed his elbow. He glanced back, wondering if he'd forgotten anything.

"Would you mind doing something for me today?" Tyson asked, a folded piece of paper held loosely in his free hand.

"Sure. You need some shopping done?" Kai asked, gesturing at the paper.

"Hit the nail on the head," the younger boy grinned.

"Fine, I might be slightly late home then."

"See you later," Tyson smiled, giving the older boy a quick kiss before shoving him out of the door.

* * *

Sitting at his desk, Kai took a moment to actually look at the list Tyson had given him. Red eyes scanning Tyson's untidy scrawl, he found nothing unusual. Until he came to the last item. _3 boxes of Christmas cards._ A weary sigh as the list was refolded and tucked away in his bag. He knew he'd promised Tyson, but he didn't appreciate being reminded about it all the time.

Forensic chemistry started and the matter was pushed to the back of his mind, just a little snagging thorn that occasionally snatched his thoughts away from unidentified chemical compounds found in their cadaver's stomach contents. After his lesson, at the first of his part-time jobs that day, he found that he couldn't ignore the problem quite as well. One of his work colleagues had draped tinsel across the doorways of the stock room. He pulled out the list again. It was as good a time as any. Who knew, maybe it would be better to get it over and done with?

* * *

Tyson chewed on the end of his pencil, staring at his second list of the day. He was sure he had remembered everyone. Well, almost sure. His eyes flickered to the side as he heard Kai's key turn in the lock.

"Hey Kai," he said, giving his boyfriend a little wave.

Kai's greeting pat on the head was followed by a faintly annoyed, "Do you always have to write that one item so prominently? My boss keeps giving me weird looks."

"Which item?"

With a pronounced sigh, Kai stuck the list in front of Tyson's eyes, finger beside the item in question.

"Oh. Sorry, love," Tyson replied, grinning bashfully.

The older boy narrowed his eyes. He had no problem admitting his relationship to people, but there were some things that should, in his opinion, stay _private. _

"Remember next time, okay?" he sighed. "What have you got there then?"

"Hmm? Oh, this?" Tyson said, lifting his list again. "This is my Christmas card list. Would you mind checking it over. I have a horrible feeling that I've missed someone out."

Kai ran his eyes down the list, not expecting to find anyone missing. Tyson was like that; he rarely, if ever, forgot his friends. It was sweet. Although his choice of friends did occasionally confuse him.

"Are King and Queen on there intentionally?" Kai asked incredulously.

"Yes. Why?" Tyson replied, his face taking on a decidedly stubborn cast.

"No reason," Kai shrugged, ignoring the sudden rush of ill-feeling towards the pair of bladers; he'd never quite forgiven them for what they'd done to Dranzer, though it had been over 5 years before.

"Good. You're going to help me write them too."

Kai decided in that moment that there were times where he'd really love to just strangle the younger boy.

Noting the sour look on Kai's face, Tyson grinned widely and said, "Because you just love that sort of thing, don't you?"

* * *

**Authoress' notes:** Those who can guess what the mystery item is can have a cookie. I didn't want to specifically mention what it was supposed to be (in an attempt to prevent the subversion of young minds to my present state), but I liked the image of Kai getting strange looks from the guy behind a shop counter.

Thanks for reading, and could some of you review please? Much appreciated.


	3. Winter wonderland

**Authoress' notes:** Yay! A review! I enjoy reading what you think of my writing, it helps me figure out what I'm doing wrong. And sorry guys, a really short chapter today.

**Disclaimer:** I own none of the song lyrics printed below.

* * *

Chapter 3: Winter Wonderland.

_December 3rd._

Tyson stood in the frost-coated streets, watching his breath mist out in front of him. He'd always been fascinated by that as child, and he remembered being almost disappointed when he found out that it was only the water vapour in his breath condensing at it met the cold air. But in the end, it still looked nice before it faded away. He looked up at the dark sky, reminding himself that it was still only 5 in the afternoon. He had only just gotten out of work, and was now waiting for Kai to walk home with him. He was still scanning the sky when he felt Kai's hand descend onto his shoulder.

"What're you looking for?" the older boy asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just wondering what the odds of a white Christmas are," Tyson replied, grinning.

"Well, it's certainly old enough for snow. You should wrap up warmer," Kai commented.

Tyson stuck out his tongue, but Kai had a point; he could no longer feel his nose and the skin beneath his nails was a suspicious shade of purple.

Draping his scarf around Tyson's bare neck, Kai asked, "Why do you want it to snow for Christmas?"

"It's just the whole fairytale image that comes with the season. It adds that little bit of magic to it," Tyson replied, smiling innocently.

"I guess," Kai muttered, still not seeing what was so special about snow.

Tyson's smile widened and he shook his head.

"_Gone is the bluebird, Here to stay is a new bird, He sings a love song, As we go along, Walking in a winter wonderland,"_ he sang underneath, glancing one last time at the sky above.


	4. Wonderful Christmastime

**Authoress' Note:** Hey guys, another short chapter today. Sorry!

* * *

Chapter 4: Wonderful Christmas-time.

Kai cupped the mug of fresh coffee between frozen hands, feeling warmth spread out in tendrils. He glanced out of the window of the café once more, wondering where on earth Tyson could be; he'd been waiting for the younger boy for quarter of an hour already. He was contemplating going out into the cold again to look for him, when Tyson sat heavily in the chair opposite.

"What took you so long?" Kai asked.

"Sorry, I got held back. One of the kids was sick and I had to wait with him until his mum could pick him up," Tyson replied, looking slightly sheepish.

"Ah, right," Kai said, smiling.

He supposed he should have expected that; with Tyson working at a nursery as part of a childcare qualification, he was late home more often than not. Kai wondered sometimes how Tyson could still seem as energetic as a puppy even after contending with a room full of screaming children. Outside, he could hear adolescent voices singing. Kai cocked his head to the side, a questioning look on his face.

"What's up?" Tyson asked.

"I was wondering what they were singing for," Kai replied.

"That's the local choir. I think they're raising money for the local church by holding a Christmas concert."

"I see."

Kai went back to his coffee, thinking about the little church he used to go to as a child. He remembered deriving some comfort from it in the period between his parents' deaths and his life in the Abbey. He was no longer religious, but he thought that he could still make a tiny contribution to something that he knew gave people hope.

"_Maybe I'm beginning to understand this holiday after all,"_ he thought.


	5. 2000 miles

**Authoress' Notes:** Sorry I'm late in updating this! You might get a lot of chapters all at once because I...........procrastinated. I'll just go and hide behind a chair or something now.

* * *

Chapter 5: 2000 miles.

_December 5th. _

Kai looked out at the road in front of the university. And the police preventing anyone from getting out onto it. He sighed. Of all the times for the roads to be too icy to drive on. He momentarily regretted not keeping Dranzer with him at all times, as he used to, until logic kicked in; if he could use Dranzer now, he'd probably set someone (or more likely several someones) on fire as well as melting the ice. Generally not a good idea. Instead, he determined to wait it out. How long could they keep everyone anyway?

* * *

Tyson glanced at the clock, watching the minutes tick by with ever-increasing slowness. Where could Kai be? It wasn't like him to be late; punctuality was something that the older boy was constantly nagging him about. He sat for a moment before an idea came to him: call Kai's mobile, see if everything was okay. Having tapped the number into the phone, Tyson stood with the phone to his ear, waiting for the little click of Kai picking up. As ringing commenced in the phone, he heard the tinny sound of the funeral march: Kai's ringtone. Tyson's mood soured significantly as he slammed the phone down, funeral march cutting off moments later.

* * *

3 hours later, Kai was still stuck at university. Kai was not amused. Kai had the distinct feeling that if that obnoxious traffic warden assured them all once more that they could all go shortly he would snap. Already students who were normally perfectly fine in his company were edging away, trying to look casual and unruffled while nervous sweat ran down foreheads. He contented himself for the next hour and a half with daydreaming about wringing the traffic warden's scrawny neck off his shoulders. When they were finally allowed to go, he had to shove down the urge to run him over, tempting as it was. He was late enough without having to explain to police why he ran someone over with no provocation.

* * *

Tyson sat curled up in Kai's favourite armchair, counting the seconds as they ticked away over his head, forcing himself not to cry. He had started off annoyed, but after a while the idea that something might have happened to Kai had entered his head. How would he know if anything had happened until it was too late? Why would you be 5 hours late otherwise? A quiet click of a key in the door seemed deafening to ears that had grown accustomed to silence.

Kai's soft, apologetic voice saying, "Sorry I'm late. I got held up at uni."

Tyson felt a relieved smile stretch across his face as he launched himself at the older boy from his position on the arm-chair.

Kai paused momentarily before hugging Tyson back, mumbling, "And I'm sorry I made you worry."

"Worry? Me? Never," Tyson replied shakily.

Kai just hugged him tighter, and decided that should he ever see that traffic warden again, he wouldn't be quite so patient as he had been today.


	6. The Power of Love

**Authoress' Note:** Just a little note to give thanks to everyone who's been reading this! And special thanks go to Parasitic Eve, FirieGurl and LovelySinner7 for the encouraging reviews, Rapunzelle and kai's wolf girl for the favourites and Firefly the Umbreon for the alert (along with two lovely people that I've already mentioned). Writing fan-fics wouldn't be the same without you guys.

* * *

Chapter 6: The Power of Love.

_December 6th._

"Remind me again why I'm here," Kai growled, trying to wipe acrylic paint from his face.

"Because you love me," Tyson grinned, watching as the acrylic on his boyfriend's cheek smeared and made one long red streak ending on the bridge of his nose.

"Okay, rephrase the question. Why are you abusing our relationship like this and submitting me to such torture?" Kai asked, throwing his arms wide, slopping more paint on himself.

Forcing himself not to laugh, Tyson answered, "We're painting the Nativity scene to put up on the nursery wall. Surely you can't refuse something for little kiddies."

"People would never think that you could be so manipulative," the older boy said, quietly seething.

Tyson's grin morphed into a triumphant smirk as he applied more paint to his brush.

"So what exactly is this nativity scene we're painting?" Kai asked after a while, ignoring the drip of yellow paint that had just landed on his nose.

"I thought you were religious as a child," Tyson replied, looking confused.

"Grandfather generally concentrated on the brimstone and fire part of Christianity for my religious education. Forgiveness and love were never his thing," came the carefully blank reply.

"Oh, right. Sorry. Well, the nativity is a representation of the scene at the birth of Christ. Joseph and the Virgin Mary were travelling to Jerusalem and stopped for the night in Bethlehem. They asked around the inns, but there weren't any rooms free. But one inn-keeper felt sorry for them and said they could stay in the stable if they wanted," Tyson answered, trying to remember everything.

"So that's why the inside of the room is bright yellow," Kai mused, looking at what he could now see were bundles of straw and hay.

"It isn't that bad," Tyson said, a sulky tone creeping into his voice.

"I just said the room was yellow."

"I know that tone well enough."

"Look, could you just continue with the story," Kai sighed.

"Oh right, yeah! While they were staying in the stable, the Virgin Mary, who was heavily pregnant, gave birth to baby Jesus."

"Wait. She's a virgin, yet she got pregnant?"

"Don't ask me," Tyson replied, pointing his paintbrush skywards. "He knows better than me. Anyway, elsewhere the Angel Gabriel appeared to a group of shepherds and their flock, and told them that the son of Jesus had been born in a stable in Bethlehem. They decided to go and visit him with the gift of lambs from their flock."

"That'll be the brown splodges on the right there," Kai muttered to himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"It better be. Anyway, in a far away country, the Three Wise Men had heard news from a prophet that the son of God would be born, and that to find him they needed to follow a bright star that had recently appeared in the sky. So they followed it bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for the son of God. They all arrived at the stable and worshipped him. That's pretty much the story of this scene. There's something about King Herod ordering for every baby boy in the kingdom to be put to the slaughter to prevent a greater king than him from being born, but that's kinda depressing for the children," Tyson continued.

"The last bit about King Herod sounds like something Grandfather would have told me. With much relish, I imagine," Kai murmured.

"Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it," Tyson said guiltily.

"Nah, everything's fine. We'd better get this finished quickly," Kai said, punching Tyson lightly on the shoulder, transferring a smudge of white onto the t-shirt that had a mere hour before been pristinely clean.

"Why, do you have something planned for later?"

"No, I just _need_ to get this blasted paint off of my face."

"But you used to wear it all the time."

"I was young and didn't realise how weird it was to wear make-up."

"I thought it was cute."

A long pause.

"Like I said, I need to get this paint off my face."


	7. Merry Christmas Everyone

Authoress' Note: Sorry about not finishing this last year guys. Of all the times for the Internet to die, huh? By the way, in this Rei is working as a translator.

* * *

Chapter 7: Merry Christmas Everyone.

_December 7th._

Sunday afternoon, Kai was sat in his customary arm-chair, when he heard the door-bell sound. Standing up to get it, he wondered who could be calling. It wouldn't be Tyson, firstly because he wasn't likely to get back before 6 in the evening, and besides he had his own key. Opening the door, he was pleasantly surprised to see fellow team-mate Rei stood on the welcome mat.

"Hey Kai," Rei said, face settling into the calm smile that Kai was so familiar with.

"Afternoon. What brings you here?" Kai asked, moving to let the Chinese boy in.

"Dropping off Christmas presents. I was in town for a talk about a potential publication, so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone," came the reply.

Kai nodded, adding, "What project is it this time?"

"Translating Chinese poetry. They like giving me the awkward, most-likely-to-get-lost-in-translation jobs," Rei said, his reply accompanied by a heavy sigh.

"Of course," Kai smirked. "So how's Max then?"

"He's getting by okay, although he keeps trailing motor oil through the house. I will never understand why he decided to enter a mechanic's apprenticeship, of all things."

"He likes fixing things. You of all people should have realised that."

"I suppose," Rei shrugged, grinning wryly. "So I hear Tyson's persuaded you to celebrate Christmas with him."

"Yes, though somewhat reluctantly."

"I wouldn't be. It's rather fun when it comes down to it."

"Since when was I a fun kind of person?"

"You judge yourself too harshly. You just don't like people seeing you have fun, apart from maybe Tyson."

Kai thought for a moment about denying that, but decided he'd only dig himself a hole. He opted instead to shrug in a non-committal way. Rei caught the movement in the corner of his eye and grinned. They sat in companionable silence until a question that had been bothering Kai for a while resurfaced in his mind.

"What is the point of Christmas anyway? Because if I'm not mistaken, it's a Christian holiday, a religion that neither Tyson nor I practice. It seems a bit strange to celebrate it," he said, eyes fixed on a point on the ceiling as he thought it through (yet again).

"I don't think there are as many who actually do celebrate it for that reason as there used to be. The best answer I suppose I can give is my own personal idea of the holiday. It seems to me that it's a chance to spend time with the people you care about, you know, family and friends you might not have a chance to see otherwise," Rei answered, voice thoughtful.

"I see," Kai murmured.

* * *

When the time came for Rei to get going, Kai followed him out the door.

"It's been good seeing you again. Shall I tell Tyson you dropped by?" he said.

"Yeah, if you want. Max and I are having a little get-together with Hilary and the Chief on the 19th. You interested in coming?" Rei replied.

"Yeah, we should be free then."

"I'll be off then, I promised Max I wouldn't be late home tonight."

Rei turned to walk away, but stopped when Kai said quietly, "I forgot to thank you."

"You're welcome. Anything for a team-mate."

Kai smiled, and watched as Rei turned once more to leave.

"Oh wait," the Chinese boy said suddenly. "One more thing. I would recommend not lighting the Christmas pudding."

"Why?"

"If Tyson is anything as clumsy as he used to be then he might well have an accident. Like Max did the other year," replied a sheepish-looking Rei.

"Why am I not surprised?" Kai asked, grimacing as Rei walked off into the winter chill.


	8. Christmas Wrapping

Chapter 8: Christmas Wrapping.

_December 8th. _

After another long Monday at university Kai was looking forward to just dumping his bag in the living room and having a quiet, stress-free evening. So when he came in that afternoon to find cookery books on every available surface in the apartment, his bad mood only got worse. Walking into the kitchen, he found Tyson sat in front of the kettle, a cup of coffee and numerous balls of screwed up paper cluttering the work-top in front of him.

"Might I ask why it looks like a hurricane has ravaged our apartment?" Kai asked, peering over Tyson's shoulder.

"I'm trying to figure out what to do for Christmas dinner," the younger boy muttered, looking like he would either burst into tears or hit someone very hard in the face.

"There's over 2 weeks until Christmas. Why are you getting so worked up about this now?"

"Take a look," Tyson said, passing over the book he had been pouring over a few minutes before.

Reading the list of recipes included in the section Tyson had marked, Kai was suddenly aware of the huge amount of preparation needed for almost everything listed. Delving deeper into the recipes themselves, he began to wonder how Tyson had intended to pull all this off by himself; they weren't the simplest of instructions and Tyson did still have some issues when it came to the kitchen (or at least that was what the scorch marks on the kitchen ceiling seemed to say).

"Well, kudos to you for thinking ahead," he said after a while. "But I think you're taking on too much by yourself."

"Hey, I'm a capable person," Tyson grumbled, peering over his coffee cup.

"I'm not saying you aren't. All I'm saying is that there's a lot to be done and you're trying to take on too much by yourself. Hence what I imagine to be your 5th or 6th cup of coffee."

"I'll have you know this is only the 4th."

"I wasn't far off though. Regardless, I have a proposition."

"And that would be?"

"Leave the food to me. I might need a bit of a hand in the kitchen on the actual day, but otherwise I can sort out things in here while you concentrate on other things that you feel need to be done."

Tyson blinked, lowering his mug.

"You sure about that?" he asked, eyeing Kai carefully.

"Yes. And next time don't just keep it to yourself if there's something you need help with."

A snort of laughter.

"That's rich coming from you."

"What can I say? I'm a hypocrite. Now help me put these books back into some kind of order, otherwise they'll never get put back."

"Aye-aye captain," Tyson said, saluting.


	9. Mistletoe and Wine

Chapter 9: Mistletoe and wine.

_December 9th._

Tyson stood back and admired his work. The apartment still needed a tree, but otherwise it was getting along nicely in terms of decoration. But somehow there was still something missing. Kneeling down, he searched through the box of decorations Grandpa had let him borrow from the dojo. Noticing the innocuous little white berries, Tyson realised what the apartment still needed. Picking it out, Tyson started to hang the sprig of mistletoe above the living room door. Stepping down from the footstool he had commandeered for the task, he heard Kai's key in the door.

"You've decorated," the older boy said warily.

"No shit, Sherlock. I thought I was the one who came out with the obvious statements," Tyson replied.

"And I thought I'd already claimed the role of deadpan snarker. I only mention it because I didn't think your decorations would be so...."

"So what?"

"Minimalist, I suppose."

"I'm not that bad."

"True. Don't forget, I'm still getting used to this Christmas thing."

Tyson smiled.

"You seem to be doing a good enough job adapting."

"It's what I do."

Kai was about to discard his bag in their room, when his eyes strayed upwards.

"Tyson."

"That's my name."

"Why have you hung poison in the doorway?"

"Hmm? Oh, right, the mistletoe. Old Christmas tradition."

"Tradition?"

"Yep. One of my favourites."

"Why?" Kai asked, feeling worried.

Noticing the trace of unease on Kai's face, Tyson grinned.

"I'll show you later."

* * *

Later that evening, Kai was sat in the living room, writing notes from that day's class onto flashcards, the mistletoe above the door completely forgotten. About to write one final card, the ink thinned and disappeared as his pen ran out. After much swearing and frantic scribbling on the day's newspaper, Kai resolved to get a new pen. Which involved retrieving one from his bag, sat neatly in the corner of the room he shared with Tyson. Sighing, he heaved himself from his chair and went to leave the room, only to meet (or rather, nearly crash into) Tyson in the doorway. After a momentary look of surprise, Tyson grinned.

"What's with the Cheshire cat look?" Kai asked.

"I get to demonstrate that mistletoe tradition."

"Oh," came the significantly unenthusiastic reply.

Tyson pouted and said, "You don't need to get like that."

"Fine. So what is this tradition then?" Kai asked, vaguely humiliating images passing through his imagination.

"Well...." Tyson said, beckoning at Kai to lower his head.

Frowning, Kai bowed his head slightly, unsure what to expect. What he didn't expect was for Tyson to kiss him. Parting, Kai smiled.

"So the tradition is a kiss," he muttered.

"Yeah, when you meet someone in a doorway hung with mistletoe you're obliged to kiss them. Spread the Christmas cheer and all that jazz."

There was a momentary pause.

"I think I like this tradition," Kai said.

"I thought you would."


	10. Santa Baby

Chapter 10: Santa Baby. 

_December 10__th_

Walking home with Tyson, Kai wondered whether it was like this every year at Christmas. Looking at the list Tyson had written, he couldn't quite take in just how much preparation went into one otherwise ordinary day in December. Sighing, he glanced to the side and saw a conspicuous gap where Tyson had been standing. Looking back he saw the younger boy lingering in front of the local dog shelter.

"Tyson, everything okay?" he asked.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. I just felt like having a look around in here. I've been meaning to for a while."

"I guess you have mentioned it a couple of times. I'd really been aiming to get back by 6 though. "

He glanced at the younger boy and saw _the look_ beginning to form. With a sigh he gestured at the entrance, ignoring Tyson's devilish grin.

The inside of the shelter had a somehow depressing air to it, an atmosphere that the staff had obviously tried to remedy with tinsel and fairy lights. Tyson slipped his hand into Kai's and together they moved down the line of pens, each one housing dogs ranging in age from puppies to old timers. They were nearly halfway when Tyson heard an expectant bark and the scrabbling of claws, unexpectedly distinct amongst the general commotion, a couple pens ahead of them. When it was in sight, he saw a St. Bernard at the entrance to the pen, its paws propped against the door, looking up at him. After pausing, he stepped a little closer to the pen. The dog strained its head towards him, looking as happy as is possible for a St. Bernard.

"Hey there. How are you?" Tyson said, smiling.

"You know he can't reply to that," Kai murmured.

"Actually that dog is a she," commented a passing member of staff. "Her name is Eartha."

"Cute. Hi, Eartha. Nice to meet you," Tyson laughed, bending over to look her in the eye.

Eartha barked, tail wagging frantically.

"I think she likes you," Kai said teasingly.

"You'd be surprised how difficult that is. She's one of our more reserved dogs, doesn't take to people that easily," the staff member added, taken aback.

"How come?" Tyson said, turning his head until Eartha barked in an attempt to regain his attention.

"Eartha here came from an abusive home. She's scared stiff of most of the people who come in here looking to take in a dog," the staff member said, shaking her head sadly. "It's a shame because she's such a sweet-natured thing."

When the staff member had walked away, Tyson muttered, "I see. Poor thing. I wish we could take her home."

Without a word, Kai watched as Tyson laid his hand gently against the door, then stood up and walked back.

"Let's get out of here. I might be too tempted if we stay any longer," Tyson said.

He smiled but it didn't reach the eyes. A similar disappointment was apparent in Eartha as she watched them walk back to the entrance.

* * *

It was 5 minutes since they'd left and Tyson hadn't said a word. It depressed Kai to see it, but there was nothing he hadn't already tried; he'd said that the staff there would take good care of her, that a caring owner would find her amongst the rest of the abandoned dogs. They had reached their apartment, when something suddenly occurred to him.

"Damn, I think something dropped out of my bag on the way back," he muttered, rummaging through his rucksack. "I'd better go back and look for it."

"You want me to come with you?" Tyson asked.

"No, I should be fine by myself. Besides, you're frozen solid."

"Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Yes, I'll be fine. Don't worry about it," Kai answered, unlocking the door and pushing Tyson through it. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

With a nod, Tyson closed the door behind him. And with a plan brewing in his mind, Kai started to make his way back to the shelter.


	11. Stop the Cavalry

Chapter 11: Stop the Cavalry.

_December 11__th__. _

Kai could feel it in the air. Sometime soon there would be snow. There had been no mention of it on the weather report, but he knew regardless, and the knowledge pissed him off to no end. Snow reminded him of Russia. Russia reminded him of things he'd rather forget. Before his train of thought could progress any further, Tyson rugby-tackled (or at least that was what this brand of Tyson hugs felt like) him from behind.

"Hey Kai!" Tyson yelled. "And how is my favourite person today?"

"Struggling to breathe. I would greatly appreciate you getting off my back," replied a winded Kai.

"You're no fun," the younger blader said, pouting.

"I know. Just remind me why you called me out here again."

"We need to get presents for friends and family. I want your help."

"You know I'm not good at this kind of thing."

"That's not the point. There're going to be from us as a couple, so I want your input."

Kai merely grunted in reply, trying to hide the little glow of contentment he'd felt. Tyson wasn't fooled.

"Stop being a tough guy and help me with this then!" he said, grinning.

* * *

An hour later and they had made little progress. Their different tastes made it increasingly difficult to come to a decision that they both agreed with. Currently they were stuck on what to get Hilary; it was nearly at the point where the shop assistants would have to call security.

"You are insufferable sometimes, you know that?" Kai seethed, steering Tyson back outside.

"Right back at you."

There was a frosty silence until Kai said, "Maybe we should take a break. Give ourselves time to think."

"Good idea. We could always just browse and see what catches our attention," Tyson agreed.

"That could be a lot, knowing you."

"Very funny."

"I try."

They spent another 40 minutes just walking around the town centre, with Tyson explaining whatever perplexing Christmas-themed idea that came their way. Having picked whatever presents they still needed to find, they were on their way back home, when Tyson tugged at his boyfriend's coat.

"Mind if we stop off in here? I want to get a little treat for the kids at the nursery," he said, nodding towards the local supermarket.

"Sure. No problems here."

While Tyson automatically homed in on the sweet aisle, Kai just wandered, eyes taking in various food he'd need to get if he was actually going to make this Christmas dinner thing (which he was beginning to regret), until something caught his eye. A middle-aged man was stood at the end of the aisle, staring at the light-weight box in his hand, shoulders drooping, head barely upright; sighing audibly, he dumped the box in his shopping basket and moved off towards the till. Curious, Kai went to investigate. Searching the shelves, he noticed several boxes of Christmas cake, each with the words "Serves 1" printed on the side.

"Hmm. That makes more sense," he muttered, frowning.

It reminded him of the first December he'd known Tyson for; while the younger boy was happy, spending time with his Grandpa and recently-returned father, Kai had spent his days alone, aware that something special was occurring outside the four walls of his home, but not allowing himself to get involved, afraid that they might somehow pity him; because pity is worse than loneliness, or at least that was what he had told himself.

"Why so gloomy?" Tyson asked, breaking Kai from his reverie.

"I'm fine. What made you think otherwise?"

"I know you, that's what."

"Honestly, I'm fine."

And he was. He wasn't alone anymore, so how could he be anything but fine?


	12. I Believe in Father Christmas

Chapter 12: I Believe in Father Christmas.

_December 12th._

Locking the door behind him, Kai was yet again glad it was Friday. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the subject he'd chosen to study, it was just the need for a rest, if only for a few days, got overwhelming sometimes. So it was with great surprise and apprehension that he found Tyson waiting for him. Right inside the front door. With something held behind his back and a grin that spoke of indescribable evil (or at the very least a grin that spoke of something that Kai wouldn't like).

"What's with that look?" Kai asked nervously.

"I found something else in the decoration box Grandpa gave me," Tyson replied, grin growing a little, if that were possibly.

"Oh? And that explains it how?"

Bringing the Santa hat into view and subtly changing stances, the younger boy said, "I thought it might suit you."

Kai stared at the red velvet and white fur with something approaching horror. What increased said horror was the sight of Tyson suddenly lunging at him. With a distinctly high-pitched squeak, Kai dove out of the way and further into the apartment. Hearing his boyfriend picking himself up from the carpet and starting to run after him, Kai's mind began to race. Having Tyson for years now, he knew for a fact that the younger boy was much faster than he was. While he was more strategically-minded, Tyson had the kind of Terminator-esque determination and stamina that rendered superior planning nearly useless; in other words, he could potentially dodge wearing the red monstrosity for a little while, but Kai couldn't run and hide forever.

* * *

While Kai was desperately trying to find somewhere to barricade himself in the apartment, Tyson was enjoying himself immensely. Especially seeing as he'd already been around Kai's usual safe-places and effectively sabotaged them before the older boy had even left college.

When he heard a frustrated yell emitting from the store-cupboard, Tyson yelled, "You need to pick better hiding places."

Walking towards the store-cupboard, he could hear Kai muttering and cursing to himself, phrases like "Sneaky, manipulative little bugger," occasionally becoming more distinct. It was one of Tyson's favourite activities, one that brought him back to his teens when he and Kai had been staunch rivals first and foremost. That and it was funny to watch Kai panic; who said that the older boy's black humour hadn't rubbed off a little?

Kai thumped the bathroom door in irritation; there was the last of them gone. This is what came from being unprepared; or at least that was what Kai told himself as he saw Tyson peer down the corridor at him, a triumphant look on the younger boy's face.

Still scrabbling at the door handle, Kai looked at him and said, "Have I ever told that you're an evil person?"

"Probably, but you love me anyway. And twisting the door handle isn't going to help if the door's locked."

"I hate you."

"Liar. But, in any case, I seem to have won."

"By cheating."

"Still doesn't change anything. Now hold still."

There was a brief struggle,which ended with Kai and Tyson sat on the floor in front of the bathroom, Tyson looking very smug while sat in the other's lap and Kai looking pissed off, red hat sat firmly on his head.

"Happy now?" the older boy asked.

"Not quite."

"So you aren't satisfied with humiliating me like this?"

"Nope. There's one other thing that I intend to do with you," Tyson said, leaning forward and flicking the white bobble lying against Kai's shoulder.

"And that is?"

Tyson leant further in and brushed a chaste kiss to the older boy's lips. It was how Tyson always ended these little games, regardless of whether he won or lost; it was a little reminder to Kai that that's all they were, games, and to not get so uptight about this stuff.

Looking distinctly calmer, Kai said, "I sincerely hope there isn't a coat to go with this in that damn box of yours."

"No I haven't found that in there. Yet."

Sighing, Kai wondered whether he would actually get any rest this weekend.

* * *

**Authoress' Note:** Sorry about these next chapters being so late in coming. I had a lot of work that HAD to be in before the holidays started, but now I am free as a bird and can write for all you lovely people who take my procrastination in their stride.


	13. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Chapter 13: Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree,

_December 13__th__. _

Compared with the day before, Saturday had a fairly quiet start. Kai was sat in the kitchen, reading through the daily newspaper and Tyson was waiting (not very patiently) for him to finish so that he could see the cartoon strips (Sunday was his favourite, seeing as that meant Garfield). However, this morning Tyson was a little more patient than usual, probably because the fairly big box that had come with his box of decorations.

After about 5 minutes, Kai finally cracked and asked, "So what is the box for? Don't tell me it's more decorations. We have enough of them up as it is."

"Hmm? That's the tree."

"Oh, I see."

It took a little while for the statement to sink in, but when it did the older boy was surprised enough to nearly choke on his cup of tea.

"TREE?! Since when did we agree that we would have a tree in the apartment?" he yelped, having recovered from his coughing fit.

"Oh come on. Please tell me you did notice the decorated trees outside for nearly 2 weeks now? Those are Christmas trees."

"I didn't realise people were stupid enough to keep them in their houses. What do either of us know about tending to a tree?"

"I have an artificial tree. Hence the box. As if you keep real trees like that."

"It would've been nice if you'd told me beforehand."

"We'd still have had a disagreement and I'd get my way in the end anyway, so I didn't think it would make a difference in the long run."

"Would've saved the potential for a trip to A&E."

"Drama queen."

"Hey, I'm letting you put up a tree in our home, which is still incomprehensible to me, so don't push your luck."

* * *

Later on, at a more sensible time of the day, Kai was looking through the post they'd had in the last week when he saw exactly what was in the box. Various-sized branches were piled up around a central post that was obviously supposed to emulate the tree trunk.

"Hey, are you going to be okay putting that up by yourself?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. You go and get on with your shredding, or whatever it is you do with the junk mail."

"One, I don't shred them, I burn them. Much better for anger management."

"Hooray for that."

"And two, if you're having trouble, give me a shout. I'd be perfectly happy to help."

"Will do."

* * *

Now, Kai had kind of expected that Tyson would end up asking for a hand, but not quite in the way that it eventually panned out. There he was, putting various pieces of paper to the match (with some relish) when he heard a screechy sort of noise from the living room. He sat where he was, match slowly burning into a stump, not entirely sure quite what it was that he'd heard.

The screech was shortly followed by a muffled, "Help!"

Stepping into the living room he sighed at the carnage.

"How in hell's name did it fall on you?"

"Never mind that. Come here and help me , dammit!"

Rolling his eyes, Kai picked up the half-built tree and set it on its stand again.

Pulling Tyson to his feet, he asked, "So, you were telling me how a tree fell on you?"

Tyson pouted.

"I think it got caught on my shirt sleeve. As I turned around for another branch, I felt something smack into me from behind."

"Right. So am I to assume you could continue to use a hand?"

"I guess," Tyson replied, eyeing the tree with suspicion.

A couple of hours later (in which Kai had also been roped into helping put on the lights and general decorations) and the tree was up and not launching itself at random passers-by. Tyson stood back and admired their work, Kai at his elbow.

"See? That wasn't so bad. Just look at the results," he said, grinning at the older boy.

"Coming from the guy who was being squashed by that just a little while ago."

"I thought we weren't going to mention that again."

"So sue me, I find it funny."

"It won't look so funny in a minute."

So ensued another hour of havoc as Kai was chased around the apartment whilst being threatened with tinsel.


	14. White Christmas

Chapter 14: White Christmas.

_December 14th._

Tyson stared out at the sky, looking for white heavy clouds, a wistful look on his face. Kai had gone out earlier in the day, saying something about getting something for uni on Monday and he wouldn't be back for a while. In the meantime, Tyson had gone through the decorations box (yet again) but couldn't find anything else he needed to put up. So instead he'd decided to indulge in the one activity that had kept him quiet over the Christmas period when he was little; he watched for snow. He didn't know why, but seeing everything covered in white still seemed magical in his eyes, which had seen a lot in his short life. He always lived in the hope that he'd wake up to find it piled up on the outside of the window, that he'd be in the car with Kai and snow would start to fall until it looked like they'd been put into a snow-globe. He continued on this train of thought until a knock at the door brought him sharply back to reality. Opening it, he saw Kenny stood on the front step, eyes obscured by his hair as usual and most of his face from the hair-line downwards obscured by a thick woollen scarf.

"Hey, Chief. How are you?"

"Cold. I'm not a winter person."

"Oh yeah. I should probably let you in, huh?"

"That would be greatly appreciated."

Stepping back into the hall, Tyson asked, "Is Dizzi with you?"

"Dizzi? You must be joking. She hates the cold more than I do," Kenny replied, tugging his scarf down.

"So what brings you out in the cold?"

"That unfortunate business of exchanging presents. If you have any for Hilary, Max and Rei, then I can pass them on for you on my way back home."

"You don't have to, you know."

"I know. It's just an economical solution to everyone's problem."

"Still haven't changed."

"Neither have you. I'll bet you're still hoping for snow, am I right?"

"Yep, you got it in one. You never know, if it snows, you might have an excuse to not go outside in the cold," Tyson replied grinning.

Kenny's only answer to that was a pained grimace.

"What? What did I say?"

"You remember the snow last year?"

"Yeah, it snowed overnight on Christmas Eve. Something like 8 inches deep when I woke up the next day."

"Yeah, well my parents had arranged to stay over Christmas Eve and we'd spend the majority of Christmas Day together. We ended up getting snowed in for an extra day. It was a nightmare."

"How? Your parents can't be as bad as Grandpa."

"You had use of the dojo. My flat is probably closer to a cupboard in size than an actual apartment. Privacy didn't exist that year."

"Good point. But I suppose it could have been worse."

"How?"

"Imagine what would happen if we got snowed into my apartment with your grandpa."

They shuddered simultaneously.


	15. Merry Xmas Everybody

Chapter 15: Merry Xmas Everybody.

_December 15th._

Staring at the CD player, Kai felt his eye involuntarily twitch.

"Tyson, where have you put my music collection?" he said, keeping careful tabs on what his temper was doing.

"I put it away because it's too depressing or angry for Christmas," Tyson replied, looking up from the magazine he was reading.

"It's not all depressing."

"Yes it is, and you know it. All apart from Rihanna, which I still find hilarious."

"I hate it when you bring that up. But anyway, I have another question for you."

"And that is?"

"Why in God's name is Mariah Carey playing?"

"Grandpa gave me a Christmas CD earlier on today."

"He visited?"

"Yeah, he wanted to go over plans for Boxing Day and to tell me that Hiro and Dad have just gotten back from their dig."

"I see. But you surely can't be serious about playing nothing but Christmas songs?"

"Why do you say that?"

Kai sighed and kneaded one of his temples.

"Because I don't think either of us will come out of December with sanity intact if that is the case."

"We went through all that freaky shit when we were teenagers and came out okay, yet we can't listen to Christmas stuff because it will irrevocably damage our psyches? Is that your argument in a nutshell?"

The older boy flushed and looked away, trying to think of another argument, or at the very least find some way to wheedle the information he wanted out of Tyson.

"Mind if I ask one more question?" he asked.

"Fire away," mumbled Tyson, brow furrowed as he peered at the crossword.

"Why have you left your CDs there and hidden mine?"

"I like Christmas songs, therefore I won't be tempted. And last time I checked, you didn't like anything from my collection."

"Anything would be better than Mariah Carey."

"Just give it a chance, Kai. You never know, you might like a few of them."

"Fine. If I do, will you give me my CDs back?"

"Deal. Now come over and help me with the crossword."

* * *

It was about 20 minutes later that Kai realised that he had already heard the song that was currently playing, probably on the radio at uni. He sat back, trying to figure who it was singing. Tyson came in from making another cup of coffee to see Kai leant back on the sofa, apparently trying to bore a hole in the ceiling by staring at it.

"What's up?"

"I can't figure out who's singing. I'm sure I've heard it before somewhere."

Listening for a moment, Tyson smiled as he placed it.

"It's Slade and I'm not surprised you've heard it before. It is one of the more famous Christmas songs out there."

"Hmm, okay."

"So what do you think of them so far?"

"They're bearable. I think I could just about handle it."

At that moment, the song switched to _Last Chrsitmas_ by Wham!

"I take it back."


	16. Driving Home For Christmas

Chapter 16: Driving Home For Christmas.

_December 16th. _

There are some things in life that are never welcome, getting stuck in traffic jams being one of them. Kai happened to be stuck in one of the worst he'd ever seen. Thankfully he'd taken his mobile with him this time, so he didn't have to come home to find Tyson huddled up in the armchair again. With the traffic looking unlikely to move for quite some time, Kai wished he had something with him to occupy himself with; while his car was functional, it didn't have much to keep you amused in long journeys, besides the actual journey itself. He sat for a while in silence, almost understanding one of the reasons people smoked; it screwed up your lungs, but it did give you something to do in times of mind-crushingly dull inactivity. He decided that he'd try some of the radio stations, a sign that he was really getting stir-crazy; as a general rule, he'd do anything to tune out people with nothing else better to do talking over the end of the song you were trying to listen to. But no, no luck, all they seemed to be doing was playing endless reams of Christmas-themed songs. Switching the radio off again, he flicked through the normal sorts of things that people stuck in cars tend to do: try and make words from the licence plates, count the number of blue cars, make shapes out of the gathering clouds, wonder how long it would take for a zombie epidemic to spread through the people blocking the road.... It was when he reached this last occupation that he happened to glance at the car sat in the lane next to him. A young family were packed into their relatively small car, every other available space in the back-seat that wasn't taken up by a child (or in the case of the middle seat, a battered teddy bear that the little girl had obviously elevated to the rank of family member) was stacked with various sized packages. The aforementioned little girl was straining against her seat-belt, reaching up towards the back of her father's seat in a motion that looked as through she wanted a hug (and that if she didn't get one, there would be hell to pay). Her parents peered around their seats at her, simultaneously happy and exceedingly tired. Her older brother, at the kind of age in childhood where everything their family does is an embarrassment, just rolled his eyes and resumed staring out of the window, catching Kai's eye momentarily as he did so. For that moment, the exasperation was still there, along with the kind of cool-headedness that children at that age feel they must attain to be seen as "grown-up", but there was also the spark of excitement, one that might have had less to do with Santa now, but was still there. In that moment, Kai had thought of Tyson and his family; the fact that they were so rarely together as one unit only adding to the camaraderie and warmth that they had together. This was one of the few times in the year they had with each other; did Kai really have a right to stop that? A tinny, but no less solemn, rendition of the funeral march started up in his pocket, jogging him violently from his train of thought.

"Kai speaking," he said, staring ahead at traffic again.

"I would never have guessed," Tyson said on the other end, trying unsuccessfully to stop himself grinning.

"Yes, all right. You made your point."

"You're too easy to rile up, you know that? But anyway, how's the traffic looking?"

"I think I see a little movement ahead, so I might actually be back on my way in a few minutes."

"Great. That's all I wanted to know. Have a safe journey then."

Just before Tyson could go to put the phone down, Kai asked, "Tyson, are you sure you want to go ahead with your plans for the 25th?"

"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now. You have less than 10 days to go," Tyson sighed.

"It's not that. I resigned myself to my fate quite a while ago. It's just that you don't get to see Hiro and your dad that often, so I thought...."

"You thought what?"

"I thought you might want to see them while you can."

There was a long silence.

"You're a smart guy, but sometimes you can be incredibly dim," Tyson said, smiling despite himself. "I'm happy to spend my holiday with you, regardless of whether it means one less day with Hiro and Dad."

"I thought I'd give you the option."

"Very sweet of you. So, I'll see you later tonight."

"Yeah, if the traffic ever lets up."

"If indeed. I love you."

"Love you too."


	17. Walking in the Air

Chapter 17: Walking in the Air.

_December 17th._

It was Tyson's habit to stare out the the bedroom window before getting ready for bed. Their room overlooked the local park, where he had spent a vast majority of his formative years, before blading had really become a big part of his life. In the days running up to Christmas, he would look down and think of when the snow fell and he would drag his mother along by the hand and she would watch as he made snow angels and snowmen. He would think of the year after she died when he made a special snowman that she'd be able to look at from wherever she had gone that he couldn't see her in, to let her know he was still thinking of her. He would think of those years, twitch the curtain closed and get ready for bed.

Sometimes Kai would join him at the window, curl an arm around his waist and think of a place he had seen only the once, a place where he had not regarded the cold and the ice with distaste. A place he had found when he was on one of his first escape attempts, after he had gotten split up from Tala and the others. He would see the frozen cobwebs and the absolute stillness and remember the feeling of complete freedom right up until a hand had closed on his arm from behind. He would think back to that day and wish that he could show Tyson that one place in the entirety of that blighted country.


	18. A Spaceman Came Travelling

Chapter 18: A Spaceman Came Travelling.

_December 18th._

Tyson looked up at the sky, where the stars were just beginning to peek out through the grey twilight. All around him, little children were running around, yelling at the top of their lungs and basically doing what all pre-schoolers are apt to do. He had his to-do list in his lap and couldn't concentrate; if anyone could really concentrate in a room full of 4-year olds, he had yet to meet and envy them. He wondered absently if there was anyone who managed to have a stress-free Christmas holiday while his hand was tugged by one particular 4-year old who had taken a shine to him. He had tried to work out priorities all day without success and he was almost looking forward to pick-up time. Kai had promised that he'd drop by to meet him, seeing as it was his last day of uni and would be out early, which he was also looking forward to.

* * *

Leaning against the gate, Kai glanced at his watch.

Scowling he muttered to himself, "Trust me to be 5 minutes early. Yeah, guy in his twenties hanging around a nursery, what is that likely to look like?"

Regardless, he stepped closer to the building and sat down on the nearest bench, the cold instantly beginning to seep into the seat of his trousers. He sat there for a little bit, staring at the sky, when he heard light footsteps coming towards him. He brought his gaze back down to earth and was confronted with the sight of a little boy, evidently one of Tyson's pre-schoolers, staring at him.

There was a long period of silence before Kai asked, "Well, are you just going to stare at me or what?"

The little boy shook his head and continued on towards the nursery gates. Kai stretched out an arm to stop him.

"You should probably go back inside in the warm."

"But then mama will find me," the boy said, looking both defiant and teary-eyed.

"And what's so bad about that?"

"She doesn't want to see me."

Kai frowned, thinking how to go about this. He finally gestured to the space on the bench next to him. The boy hesitated before hoisting himself onto the bench.

"Now explain why your mum doesn't want to see you."

* * *

Finally the time had come to make the final register before home time. Tyson felt relief wash through him; today had been particularly hectic, with the kids all excited about Christmas and Santa, particularly as it was only a week away. The relief only lasted as long as it took to find out that they were missing one of the kids. Tyson and his co-workers frantically searched the building, trying to think of places where a young boy would be likely to hide in. He wasn't in any of the places they could think of. There wasn't any response to his name. None of the other kids could remember where they'd last seen him. Tyson was getting close to total break-down when there was a knock on the door.

Kai stuck his head around the door and said, "Tyson, I'm assuming this is one of yours."

The door opened wider and the little boy came inside, looking a little sheepish.

"Where have you been? We were all worried about you, young man," Tyson said, kneeling down to look the boy in the eye.

"I was running away. But your friend caught me."

Tyson sighed. The things he had to deal with.

"So long as you're okay. Now go over and sit with the others for registration."

As he watched the boy run back to sit with his friends, Kai said, "I'd forgotten how literally kids take things."

"What do you mean?"

"I think he might have interrupted his mum while she was wrapping presents this morning, so she told him to go away. He must have taken the tone of voice to mean that she didn't want to see him."

Tyson sighed again, but seemed much more relaxed in Kai's eyes than when he came in.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just the last straw on a really busy day. You wonder if the holidays are worth the stress sometimes."

"It would have to be otherwise we wouldn't still do it."

"True."

"So don't get yourself all twisted into a knot. It doesn't have to be perfect you know."

Tyson looked up at him and smiled.

"You always know just what to say, don't you?"

"I got a crash course with those bloody pep talks Mr Dickenson forced me to do."

Tyson merely laughed and kissed him quickly on the cheek.


	19. Another Rock and Roll Christmas

Chapter 19: Another Rock and Roll Christmas.

_December 19th. _

"So you managed to convince Kai to come with you then?" Rei asked, a grin spreading across his face. "He didn't seem all that enthusiastic about the whole holiday thing last time we spoke."

"He's coming around to the idea. Besides it's you guys, so he can't really argue," Tyson replied, his smile a touch more weary.

Kai just shot him a wounded look, one which was promptly ignored by his former team-mate. With a high-pitched laugh, Max peered over Rei's shoulder.

"Is Kai being a spoil-sport again?" he asked, bouncing around with far more energy than Kai considered healthy. "Well, we have ways of changing that."

At that last statement, Kenny and Hilary, embodiments of reason as always, managed to drag Max away. An ominous feeling settled in Kai's stomach.

"Rei, have you been letting Max at the sugar?" he asked.

Down the corridor they suddenly heard a small crash, followed by the sound of Max giggling like a loon. Rei's look of panic was the only answer they needed as he rushed to the sound of the crash to see how much damage control was needed. The ominous feeling only got worse.

Catching a glimpse of his boyfriend's face, Tyson said, "Hey, it'll be fine. It's Christmas, remember?"

"6 days. 6 days and this will all be over..." Kai muttered, cradling his head in his hands.

* * *

"Okay, so it's 3 words, a film and the middle word is of," Hilary muttered darkly.

"You have 10 seconds left," Rei said pleasantly, glancing over Max's shoulder at the stop-watch.

Kenny's demeanour changed from mild panic to wild panic as he tried desperately to mime "Quantum of Solace".

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1...and time's up!" Max yelled, eyes trained on the stop-watch.

"Why put Quantum of Solace in charades? Just why?" Kenny asked.

"Because it's hilarious to watch," Kai said.

There was a short pause.

"What? Why are you all staring at me?" he asked, trying to shrink into the sofa.

"No reason," Hilary said.

Another short pause.

"Okay, that was a lie. I was just thinking that giving you mulled wine was probably a good idea," she grinned.

"Very funny. Your vote of confidence in my efforts is astonishing," Kai smirked.

"We only mention it because it's nice to celebrate as a team," Kenny said.

"Fair enough," the Russian said, getting up from the sofa.

"Where are you going? It's your turn," Max asked.

"I'm just getting a drink. I'll be back in a minute. Tyson can pick his charade while I'm out."

Moments after Kai had disappeared through the doorway, Max noticed the numbers on his stop-watch vanish. He shook it a couple of times, followed by much frantic pressing of the start button.

"Rei, we need new batteries," he said, after banging against the table a few times.

"I guessed that somehow," the Chinese boy sighed, extracting the stop-watch gently from his partner's hand. "There should be some in the kitchen."

Turning to leave, he found himself confronted by Kai in the doorway.

"What's happening? I heard crashing."

"It's nothing. The stop-watch stopped working, so Max was trying the old technique of whacking it."

They were interrupted by Tyson's laughter, after he had noticed what Rei and Max had hung in the doorway.

"Hey guys! Look up," Tyson said.

Kai paled at the sight of the innocuous sprig of mistletoe that he'd completely missed first time around.

"You must be joking," he muttered, lowering his gaze to Rei.

Just in time to see the Chinese boy close the gap between them and kiss him. Rei pulled away to see what must have been the reddest blush he'd ever seen on the Russian.

"What's wrong?" Rei asked, grinning.

"Couldn't you have given me a bit of warning?" Kai stuttered.

* * *

**Note: **Sorry about leaving it unfinished yet again, but I thoroughly hope that this year I should get it all over and done with.


End file.
